Browse Kitchen Table Debriefs Articles

What best prepares a firefighter for the job? Classroom lectures? Experience through on-the-job training? Both? Neither? Each option has its proponents and its opponents. There have been discussions (and at times, heated debates) about experience versus credentials at firehouse kitchen tables all over the country for years. What we are really talking about is training. What training method works best? What ...

In this "Kitchen Table Debrief" I will talk about the way we communicate and the efforts to make what we say clear at a scene and on the radio. How Do You Say "Get Out"? When you need to move people out of a building, or you want your people (firefighters) to withdraw from a building because you have changed strategies, ...

In this “Kitchen Table Debrief” I will finish the discussion of some of the more likely Hostile Fire Events you may encounter on the fireground. In PART I, we began discussing the most common hostile fire event, Flashover. Since then, I have been discussing this with colleagues and doing more research. Don’t worry; nothing has changed! I would like to address ...

In this “Kitchen Table Debrief” I will discuss some familiar types of instantaneous and near instantaneous combustion (also known as explosions and near-explosions), their warning signs, and some techniques for surviving these events, where they exist. On the fireground, the major antagonists are our long-time adversaries: flashbacks and overdrafts… NO NO! I mean flashovers and backdrafts. These two hostile events are ...

“MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Fire Department Obstacles Are Killing Us! MAYDAY!” In this “Kitchen Table Debrief” I will propose some techniques to help avoid common obstacles when documenting SOPs/SOGs. Actually, some of these issues exist in more than just our documented processes, but this is how they most often rear their ugly heads! I have a confession to make. Actually, I have ...

Our world is made up of what some call a melting pot – a mixture of many different races, religions, and cultures. In the midst of these groups are further subdivisions – gender, age, education, social status, etc. All these groupings are but a few of the categories that divide us as people - categories that serve to pit us against ...

Prior to my being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) a few years ago, I felt this affliction was one which only affected weak individuals. I believed it was a sign of fragility. I was wrong. During a night shift about two years ago, I was transported to the ER from the station suffering shortness of breath, chest pains, numbness, ...

The biggest lesson you’ll learn in the following article is that we are destined to be students forever. We may think we have learned all there is to our jobs or to life in general, but the truth is that we are all crawling around this planet as perpetual students. The longer it takes to accept this reality, the longer it ...

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